While filming on location in Bogota (and being visited on set by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos), actor Mark Wahlberg looked into the camera and gave a shout out to some boys from Duvall. “Hey guys, Mark Wahlberg here”, he said. “I’m asking you to please support the U-12 Duvall Valley Bombers as they raise money for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play baseball at the Hall of Fame Mecca at Cooperstown, New York. Good luck, have a great time, God bless you all.”

The Duvall Valley Bombers are a select baseball group of eleven players at 12 years of age. Five kids hail from Duvall, four from Woodinville, one from Snoqualmie and one from Carnation. They’ve been playing together for years and are capping off this era of their lives by competing this August in Cooperstown, New York.

I remember last spring, standing over by the tennis courts, finishing my interviews with the tennis team. Suddenly from the softball field rang out a BOOM! The sound system kicked into Beyonce’s “Run the World.” The thunderous, pulsating beat seemed to shake the ground – an apt description for last year’s team.

I wandered over to the outfield fence and watched them practice for a few minutes. Paige Grover, Jordyn Boyd, Olivia Riener and the Rhinehart twins. They were part of a stellar senior class that would lead this club to the 4A State Championship.

The Woodinville Falcons, traveling to the Tacoma Dome for the State tourney, began play as a #5 seed. Over the next three days, they’d overturn the brackets like an applecart. Three straight overtime wins bought a ticket to the title game. But it was there, before a regional TV audience, that they’d fall against a colossus in the form of Central Valley (27-0).

Woodinville finished the season with a 22-5 record. By finishing in second place, the Falcons became the most successful basketball team in school history.

As the Woodinville team bus ascended Snoqualmie Pass, the forecast called for possible blizzard conditions. But the peril wouldn’t come until later that evening. That’s when Moses Lake and Jamie Loera buried the Falcons in an avalanche of three pointers, giving the Chiefs a massive first half lead.

But then the Falcons began tunneling their way out. Woodinville would actually take the lead in the game’s final frantic minutes, before succumbing 71-66. This regional round game was played last Friday night at Ellensburg High School.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls for how they fought and fought,” Woodinville coach Scott Bullock said.